Yoweri Museveni

Yoweri Museveni (15 September 1944-) was President of Uganda from 29 January 1986, succeeding Tito Okello. Museveni seized power after toppling presidents Idi Amin in 1979 and Milton Obote in 1985, and the country reached economic stability under his rule, also having a strong response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. However, he was regarded as a dictator by many, as he scrapped the presidential term limits laws and arrested opposition candidate Kizza Besigye in 2016, maintaining power after 30 years.

Biography
Yoweri Museveni was born on 15 September 1944 in Ntungamo, Uganda Protectorate, United Kingdom. His name Museveni means "Son of a man of the Seventh", referring to the 7th Battalion, King's African Rifles, a Ugandan unit in the British Army during World War II. He was the brother of Salim Saleh, a general of the Ugandan People's Defense Force (UPDF). Museveni joined Milton Obote's intelligence services in 1970 and fled to Tanzania with Obote and other loyalists to the old government after Idi Amin seized power. In 1972, he formed his own resistance organization, the Front for National Salvation (FRONASA), fighting against Idi Amin's dictatorship. In 1979, Idi Amin was overthrown, and Obote returned to power. Museveni had experience fighting alongside FRELIMO in Mozambique around this time, and in 1981 he decided to use his guerrilla experience to start the Ugandan Bush War against Obote's government after he claimed that the elections were rigged and said that he had won the presidential elections. In 1985, the Nairobi Agreement stated that he was the new President of Uganda, beginning a reign of over 30 years. Museveni was very active in African affairs, toppling the government of Rwanda in 1994 and Zaire in 1996 in the First Congo War, having given refuge to the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and supported them in their takeover of Rwanda and their uprising in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 1996, Museveni held the first elections in ten years and was reelected with 75% of the vote, and in 2006 he was reelected with 59% of the vote, beating his rival Kizza Besigye. Under Museveni, the government mustered up a strong response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and economic growth was achieved. However, the north of the country saw insurgencies such as the Lord's Resistance Army and Allied Democratic Forces rise up against the government, leading to civil warfare.